Creative Morristown conference fosters creativity and innovation

Posted onNovember 27, 2012

On October 19 and 20th, nearly 80 individuals from varied sectors of our local community (the arts, culture, schools, social services, Town government and businesses) convened at the Morristown Hyatt to address the question “How can our diverse community engage creativity and innovation to insure a thriving sustainable Morristown?” A spinoff of Creative New Jersey, Creative Morristown’s efforts were spearheaded by the Arts Council of the Morris Area, the Town of Morristown’s Office of Sustainability, Jonathan Rose Companies, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Following “Open Space” principles, facilitator Larry Capo guided participants – with resulting discussions that inspired not only a wealth of ideas but also concrete steps toward the implementation of those ideas. Breakout sessions included topics ranging from the need for regional planning, incorporating the arts into the Master Plan process, fostering creative spaces for public use, or helping needy families – to exploring the best ways to publicize existing cultural resources, establishing a community cultural commission, sharing “best practices” of other creative communities, finding ways to balance the number of bars with other types of development and offering more creative opportunities for young people.

L-R: Open Space principles; Discussing action items on Day #2, in front of the “market place” of breakout session topics; recording ideas at a breakout session.

Our deep thanks to our sponsors: the Hyatt Morristown, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, County College of Morris, the Town of Morristown, Samsung, as well as Cappia Café, C’est Cheese, The Creamery, and Grassroots Natural Market in Denville. We also want to thank the participants of Creative Morristown who gave us the precious gift of their time and thoughts and help form new partnerships and collaborations which we hope will enrich our community in the future.